Frostbitten
by Shadow-Phoenix-Rider
Summary: Captain Zavvi and Corso Riggs go to Hoth on their next mission, joined by her sister, the Jedi consular Xuleena and Qyzen Fess, her Trandoshan companion. What follows is an adventure filled with shenanigans and serious fights, with copious amounts of teasing and story-telling. Contains spoilers for Smuggler and Consular stories up to the end of their Hoth stories.


"Captain, what are you doin'?" Corso Riggs asked with much amusement, leaning against the entry to his captain's quarters. Inside was a Twi'lek dressed for the cold on Hoth, in a long tailed white coat whilst the rest of her clothes were dark coloured, but what had the mercenary's attention was the very long, very colourful scarf that was haphazardly wound around her lekku. Or parts of them, at least; large amounts of the scarf had fallen out of the way she'd bound it up and it was decorating the duvet rather nicely. He found this situation so silly in one part because of what she was doing, the other part being that scarf was all the colours of the rainbow. Corso hadn't known the Captain to wear anything too bright and garish; she was like him, preferring darker tones, so to see her with this item of clothing that almost radiated light almost made him burst out laughing.

But Corso was wise enough not to do that in front of Zavvi. She huffed at him, her hands planting themselves on her hips.  
"I'm trying to wear this scarf." She told him.  
"Pardon me, ma'am, but aren't scarves supposed to go around your neck?" He pointed out, trying not to smirk at her, but failing spectacularly.  
"This will be going around your neck in a minute!" She exclaimed.  
"Will it have you attached?" Corso teased, only to be slapped across the face with the said scarf. "Ow!"  
"You, farm boy, are getting too good with your words. Stop it." Zavvi said, a grin dancing on her lips even as she tried to be firm with him. He raised his hands in surrender, chuckling.  
"Ah, alright then Captain. Here, let me help you with that." He gestured to the wayward scarf.  
"Yeah, I just can't get it to stay still." The Twi'lek admittedly, letting him gather the fabric up and off her. As he started to sort it out, he said;  
"You know, Captain, I've always wondered how you managed with those headtails of yours. They seem to be a lot of work."  
She made a noise that was a cross between a sigh and a half-hearted chuckle.  
"Mine are. Normally they'd be fairly tolerant to normal, everyday stuff, but mine...They make it ten times harder by being sensitive to everything damn thing...I have to thread them through stuff first so they don't get squeezed or anything, and it's just so much hassle sometimes." She snorted. "Sometimes I wish I just had hair, like you."

"Perhaps." The mercenary could sense the bitterness developing in her voice, and it pained him to hear it. "But if you had hair 'stead of lekku, I couldn't do this..." He gently scooped up one headtail and kissed it, feeling it quiver slightly under his touch, and hearing a little gasp of pleasure from the smuggler that sent a flash of heat into his loins.  
"But...but..." Zavvi scrabbled to string a coherent sentence together as she felt his breath skitter across her tender organ. "Don't you...you know..." She gestured something she hoped would covey her words better.  
"You think I'd want run my fingers through your hair?" He drew back slightly, letting her think.  
"Yeah, like with, with your fiancée-"  
"Zavvi, I love you." A hand on her waist encouraged her to turn and face him, though she couldn't look at him, shame gnawing at her for bringing this up. "She ain't anything to me. She's in the past now; you're the only lady who matters to me." He sighed, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "If it makes ya feel any better...I was never like this with her. I can't, I can't fake how I feel, I couldn't..." He shook his head. "I love you. Please, Zavvi..."

"I'm sorry Corso, I shouldn't've...I know you love me, I just..." She shook her head. "It just slipped out. I-" To her surprise, the Mantellian wasn't mad, or even annoyed. He just looked sympathetic.  
"I know, you just don't want your heart broken, right?" She nodded. "I guess you've seen too many Skavaks out there..." There was a slight anger to his tone, a protective flare.  
"They don't help things, no. You start to lose your faith that there are good men out there." Zavvi looked up at Corso finally, smiling. "I guess I wasn't looking hard enough."  
His only answer was a warm chuckle, his brown eyes shining with that bright light that only he seemed to have; one that could set her heart on fire and make her feel so much better about everything.

"Come on Captain, let's see if I can get this on you." He said, holding up the bright scarf. "I guess this is 'cos your lekku don't like the cold, right?"  
"Well, would you go out onto Hoth with no pants on?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "No, I didn't think so. Same with me except, well, I've got those two big dangly things sticking out of my head and it isn't easy to protect them."  
"I'm sure there's gotta be some lekku warmers out there somewhere." Corso commented, starting to wind the scarf around them. "Don't seem right that there ain't such a thing as that."  
"Yeah, but we come from Ryloth, Corso. Far as I know, it's covered in deserts, and I don't think we needed lekku warmers for that."  
"Sure, but your dad's Republic, ain't he? I bet if he were deployed somewhere cold, they'd give him something like that. Maybe we could, uh, 'borrow' one of the Republic's spares?" He suggested, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.  
"We could, but I don't know if they even have spares...This is Hoth, Cor. It's nothing but snow, ice and starship skeletons. I don't pretend to know the Republic's strategies, but I don't think salvaging stuff is going to be their main priority..." Zavvi replied, trying not to get to enamoured with the feeling of Corso's hands against her lekku, even if he was merely trying to weave a scarf onto them so it wouldn't fall off.  
"Guess that's why the lady Senator sent us here in the first place, 'cos they can't spare anyone else." Corso ventured, biting his tongue as he got closer and closer to the end of her headtails, starting to suspect that this was harder than it looked. The thicker parts of her headtails allowed him to weave the scarf around to hopefully help it hold on, but the thinner sections made it much more difficult to do that. He only hoped that friction would help it hold. That said, her skin was very smooth...

The smuggler snorted.  
"And I thought that Risha having us as couriers was bad enough. I'm not running a ship to look for stuff that fell down the side of the Republic's sofa." She breathed in sharply as the mercenary's calloused fingers brushed against her lekku. "One of these days, I'm going to get back to smuggling, whatever Dodonna says."  
"Yes Captain." He replied diplomatically. Both Senator Dodonna and Captain Zavvi were formidable women, and he was continually surprised by their posturing whenever they were talking to one another, though it put into perspective how his sheltered upbringing had skewed his view on women. He thanked the stars and the Force for the umpteenth time for letting his path cross with the Twi'lek smuggler, for letting her open his eyes, though it wasn't a lesson he had learnt without cuts and bruises and heartache. But he'd go through it all again for her.

Corso got to the ends of the scarf, unable to tie it up nicely around the ends of her lekku, so he left them dangling.  
"I think I'm done, Captain. Dunno if it'll stay, though." He said, eyeing his construction warily.  
"Well, it's better than what I was doing before, so that's a great start." Zavvi grinned, turning to him and giving him a kiss on the cheek, igniting a tiny blush that made her giggle.

This moment was interrupted when Risha marched over to Zavvi's quarters, looking rather unamused with the couple.  
"Are you two going to Hoth, or are you going to stay here and canoodle all day?" She asked, one eyebrow raised. "Credits are only lost this way, you know."  
"Does it look like we're canoodling to you?" Zavvi demanded, thumping her hands onto her hips, flicking her head slightly and straightening her back in a challenging pose.  
"Well, what else do you do together?" The mechanic asked, eyes gleaming with devious knowing. "I doubt it's playing pazaak, at least by proper rules."  
"I haven't convinced him to do that yet." The Twi'lek replied, oblivious to Corso's growing blush. Though it sounded a good idea, he figured he'd be forfeiting his clothes to her, rather than the other way around. "Anyway, you can't talk; you're not the one going down onto that iceball! We can take as long as we want to get ready!"  
"Does that explain why you have that thing on your head?" The older woman said, pointing at the scarf. Unfortunately that was when it decided it had preferred the floor to the Twi'lek's headtails and slid down and off, thanks to being dislodged by her head shake earlier. Corso hissed a curse as he saw it fall, pinching the bridge of his nose.  
"For the love of the Force!" Zavvi swore, kicking at the bundled fabric. "To the Void with it; I'll just have to wrap my lekku around my head and hope for the best."  
"If you think that'll be alright, Captain. I could try-" Corso spoke, going over to the pile.  
"No, it's alright, Cor. No use wasting any more time, or Her Royal Highness over here will chew our ears off." The captain waved him off, before shrugging. "I hope she doesn't mind the possibility of me coming back with no lekku then..." She spoke, sighing overly-dramatically.

Risha rolled her eyes and snorted.  
"Oh, stop whining, you'll be fine. If you want to spend time kissing up your farm boy, you can do that on planet where we don't have to see it. Maybe you'll be able to see if the White Maw has anything good to purloin." She folded her arms. "But anyway, you're not getting anything done standing here, so if you have everything you need, get out there and haul jets."  
"Fine, I guess somebody's gotta do this." Zavvi sighed. "Rish, please find way to make some money whilst the _Skylark_ is docked on this station. I'm sure Akaavi can bring in some bounties and you can find some people who require your skills."  
"Of course, Captain." Risha replied, a grin playing on her lips as she left the couple. Zavvi blinked slowly, psyching herself up.  
"Let's go, Cor. Better now than never."  
"Lead on, Captain." Was his steadfast reply.

* * *

"Have I ever told you how much I hate shuttles?" Zavvi said, looking over to her companion.  
"Many times, Captain." Corso replied, voice strained with mild exasperation. "Mainly when we were on Coruscant afta Skavak took the _Skylark._"  
"Yeah, but I hate shuttles anyway. And this is the reason!" The smuggler complained. "I hate queues. How anyone can stand here for ages on end is beyond me!" She snorted, folding her arms as she glared at the small shuttle. "I should've upgraded the _Skylark_ before we came here..."  
"I doubt we have the credits, Captain." Corso replied. "'Sides, are we ever gonna use that stuff again after this trip? I mean, how many times are we gonna go to a planet this cold?"  
"Stop being reasonable." The Twi'lek growled, tucking her legs up under her arms. "I still hate waiting."

The mercenary rolled his eyes and decided it would be better to spend his time watching the pilot get the shuttle ready for the next run to the planet, as well as the numerous troops milling around, looking rather reluctant to go down to the surface and probably wishing the opposite of Zavvi. Corso wasn't overly keen about going down to the planet either, but they had a job to do. And boasting that they went to Hoth and came back would probably get them a free drink.

As he cast his gaze around the hangar, he caught sight of a splash of colour that wasn't monochrome and dull. It was a flash of brown, the colour of the Jedi, and Corso tried to see who the Jedi could be, wondering if it was possibly Zavvi's sister. As he craned his neck up to look for her, attracting the smuggler's attention, he saw the tall Jedi emerge from behind a crowd of chatting troopers, her robes in the simple colours of white and brown whilst her lightsaber was displayed proudly at her side, much ornate than any of the blasters (even Sparkles, Corso figured) on the station. She was as confident as her younger sister, but whilst Zavvi carried herself in a way that dared challengers to try their luck against her, Xuleena had the serenity that the Jedi were known for, the quiet confidence in respect.

Zavvi immediately brightened when she caught sight of her elder sibling, who must have sensed this as Corso felt Xuleena's Force presence gently brush his mind, and the smuggler bounded up to catch her sister in a big hug.  
"Big sis! I haven't seen you in ages!" She cried, her sister chuckling.  
"It's not been that long, Zavvi." She looked up as Corso approached, and it didn't take much more than a cursory glance to notice there had been a change; Corso's aura was naturally rather expressive, his emotions impacting on it like ripples on a pond, but now it was swamped with love and adoration, which muffled his other emotions, though she could sense them. And, more interestingly, she could detect that his aura was partially interwoven with Zavvi's, with a join that was practically a meld. An inseparable meld.

"It's nice to see you again, Master Jedi." Corso spoke in his easy country drawl, his brown eyes as expressive as his aura.  
"Yes, it's a pleasure to see you again too, Corso." Xuleena said, shaking his hand. "But you may call Xuleena; there is no need to stand no ceremony here." He blushed slightly.  
"Oh, okay ma- I mean, Xuleena." He replied, and the older Twi'lek had to smile slightly.  
"You may call me 'Xu', if my first name is too much of a mouthful." She said, making the young man blush harder and her younger sibling giggle.  
"I-I'll remember that." Corso spoke, nodding.  
"Enough teasing my farm boy, why exactly would the Jedi send you here to this iceball?" Zavvi asked, grinning at her companion's bright red blush. The Jedi consular raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips, kept at a contented neutral.  
"'Your' farm boy, sis?" She asked, amusement tingeing her voice. Corso watched on as the teasing tide turned. The smuggler shifted slightly, in a way that reminded him of an irritated flutterplume ruffling its feathers.  
"Well, he's on my crew, and he kinda depends on me for income. And I kinda depend on him for my survival too." She said, trying to palm it off like it was nothing, whilst the mercenary folded his arms, knowing that this was going to unravel eventually.  
"Explain to me then why your auras are overlapping each other." The Jedi's eyes sparkled. "Corso's in particular is saturated with adoration for you; you must have done something to trigger this."

A slight discolouration appeared on the top of Zavvi's cheeks.  
"Well, he's always like that...Corso's a really loyal guy...You must not have noticed it before." She said.  
A flicker of amusement in the young man's aura. Xuleena just smiled in that way a Jedi does when they're trying to not look smug, and purposefully looked over to Corso, lifting her hand. His aura spiked with anxiety, and he looked away from her.  
"Uh, no offence, m'am, but could you not do that...that, mind trick thing?" He asked, and Xuleena hesitated, sensing a cocktail of fear, regret and guilt bubbling through his aura. She looked to her sister, who shook her head, refusing to elaborate, though the Jedi could sense uncertainty, anxiety and traces of fear.  
"I apologise, Corso." She spoke, chagrined by her mistake. "I didn't mean to unnerve you; I was only going to do it in jest, to find out what had changed between you and my sister." Her lekku curled around her side, as if hugging her.  
Corso smiled, the negative emotions washing from him easily.  
"It's alright, Master Jedi." He said. "I know you only meant well. I just...I prefer to keep my head to myself, if ya know what I mean." Xuleena nodded.  
"Yes, I understand." A small smile appeared on her lips. "I assume I could just ask you what has happened between the two of you straight up?"

Zavvi grinned.  
"That's the thing about you Jedi. You always try and do elaborate things to get things done when, you know, you could just do it like ordinary people do." She said, her older sibling giving her a look.  
"And I would have done, had not my little sister been so evasive about it all."  
"Well, well I..." The smuggler stumbled, trying to dig herself out the hole she'd fallen into.

Luckily for her, however, she was saved when Corso spotted something out of the corner of his eye, and when he turned to have a proper look, the tension that his body affected drew his captain's attention. Through the many fights and challenges Zavvi and Corso had encountered, they had learnt to trust each other down to the very hints of each other's body language. One of them only needed to look suspicious for the other to be on alert in seconds.

The object of his wary attention was a large, dull green scaled Trandoshan with one eye blinded by a large scar. Such a creature was formidable and the mercenary knew it; some of bounty hunters after his and the captain's blood had been Trandoshan, making the Mantellian uneasy in their presence, especially in one that looked as battle-scarred as this one. His hand drifted close to Torchy, now back in pride of place by his thigh, just in case.

However, he thought the armour the reptile wore was odd; it was in the style of the Republic army, much like the gear Corso was wearing. It was puzzling; as far as he knew, there were no Trandoshans who were Republic soldiers. Even so, he didn't want to take chances, and he could sense from Zavvi's stance that she wasn't either.

Xuleena, however, smiled as she saw the Trandoshan approach.  
"Qyzen! I was wondering if you were going to arrive in time for the shuttle." She spoke, and the reptile dipped his head slightly.  
"_Apologies, Herald._" Qyzen growled in his native language. "_I was checking my equipment was ready for this hunt._"  
"Of course." Xuleena nodded. "You will have ample opportunity to earn many points here."  
She turned to look at her sister and her companion, the latter looking somewhere between surprised and alarmed. The Jedi found herself amused by this.  
"Did my sister not tell you about Qyzen?" She asked, Corso shaking his head.  
"No. Aside from knowing that you're a Jedi an' you're her sister, I don't know much else." He admitted.  
"Zavvi..." Xuleena sighed.  
"Look, I don't want to shove it in people's faces!" The younger Twi'lek bristled. "Besides, I don't want you to get hurt because I've been broadcasting your existence across the galaxy." The consular frowned.  
"I have the feeling you would spend your life in a vacuum if given half a chance." She said, and Corso noted the coldness to the tone, which caused his hackles to prickle.  
"The Captain can tell me as much as she likes." The mercenary said. "I understand she might not wanna tell me everythin', and that's fine." He spoke, staring defiantly into Xuleena's eyes.

The elder sibling was taken aback by the force she feel in his aura, his protectiveness flaring brightly like fire. Fire that would certainly burn her if she tried to taunt it. The cocktail of emotion that fuelled the aura was too volatile to analyse and she wasn't entirely sure if it wouldn't bite her mental connection if she tried. At least now she understood why Zavvi treasured his presence by her side; his loyalty was unwavering and constant. And yet, there was something underscoring his devotion to her...

"Fine." She replied, reigning in her anger and smoothing it back into calm. Thankfully, her companion managed to swing the discussion in a slightly different way.  
"_Herald, is this your nestmate that you talk about?_" Qyzen asked, eyeing the smuggler curiously.  
"Yes Qyzen, this is Captain Zavvi, my little sister." Xuleena nodded, approval flashing briefly in the Trandoshan's eye.  
"_The Herald speaks highly of you, small hunter._" He growled, as was his way of speaking, as he meant no unkindness. "_I have respect for any of the Herald's nestmates._"  
"That's very kind of you." Zavvi replied, unused to a Trandoshan complimenting her. "But I can't give you any details on my score; we don't tend to keep count." Qyzen didn't seem offended.  
"_I am sure your score would please the Scorekeeper._" He replied.  
"I used to keep count of the separatists." Corso muttered to himself.

"You dodged my question earlier, sis." Zavvi spoke, folding her arms. "I wanna know what a Jedi wants on a planet such as this one. There's no Jedi ruins or anything that's vaguely interesting here."  
"_Good hunting here._" Qyzen replied, the younger Twi'lek rolling her eyes.  
"Yeah sure, for you, but despite that, what else is here aside from the Republic scrapping over dead starships?" She frowned. "Why would the Jedi Council send their best here? They're surely not that desperate for this stuff, right?"  
"No, I am here on other business." The Jedi consular replied. "I am here on behest of the Rift Alliance."  
"The Rift Alliance?" Corso piped up. "Nev'r heard of them."  
"They're a group of planets that wish to secede from the Republic, much like your own planet was." She explained, startled when Corso's aura suddenly turned jet black.  
"Only those motherless separatists wanted that." He growled. "The rest of us were jus' fine."

The darkness took Xuleena aback briefly, though as soon as her sister's hand rested on his arm the shadows broke and shimmered away, slivers of grief and loneliness trailing in its wake. She resolved never to anger the mercenary and bring such hatred down on her.  
"Well," she continued, trying keep her expressions neutral, "the Supreme Chancellor asked if I would act as the Republic's diplomat, to see if I can prevent them from seceding."  
"How can they think about breakin' away from the Republic when the Empire's gearing up to wipe us all out?" Corso exclaimed, anger crackling like electricity.  
"I gotta admit, that is kinda douchey move. The Republic's got better things to worry about than other planets throwing a tantrum." The younger Twi'lek shrugged, sympathizing with Corso but trying to stay more aloof, even though her sister could sense otherwise.  
"Perhaps, but unfortunately it is a very good time for them to get their voices heard. The Republic is in no shape to lose these planets. Anyway, I'm to help the Rift Alliance's soldiers here . They're having trouble with a group of pirates here called the White Maw."  
"Oh yeah, we have to deal with them too. Apparently they have some stealth tech the Republic really, really wants and they think we can get it off them." Zavvi said. "So you're basically going out to bring the boys home?"  
"Yes, you could call it that. It sounds deceptively simple, but if it was, I think those soldiers would be home by now." The Jedi nodded. "I may require your help."

Zavvi's eyebrows shot up.  
"What is this? My Jedi sister requires my help?" She grinned widely. "I'll have you know that my time isn't cheap..."  
A smile played on Xuleena's lips, and she folded her arms.  
"Name your price, sister."  
"That you help me if I require trouble, and no flirting with the farm boy." Zavvi replied, Corso blushing at the latter comment. His blush intensified when the Jedi looked thoughtful.  
"Oh, I don't know...He looks quite handsome..."  
"Um, ain't you Jedi supposed to, uh, be alone?" Corso chuckled nervously at the elder sister's attention. Her teasing look fell, and she sighed, the young man immediately feeling guilty for mentioning it.  
"Yes, we're not supposed to let ourselves get attached. It's the only part of the Code I don't agree with..." She looked morose for a few moments, before the calm came down again and masked it. "But anyway, I will agree with your terms. I am surprised you are so possessive of 'your' farm boy...Have you plans for him?"

"I hope she does," Corso grinned cheekily despite his blush, "'cos it's gonna be mighty cold down there."  
"Corso!" Zavvi exclaimed, shoving him. "Excuse Riggs here, I mistook him for a gentleman."  
"Aw, I was just having fun, Captain." He replied, looking at Xuleena earnestly for her to back him up. She had to smile; she could sense his total affection for her little sister which seemed to consume his entire being. Something had certainly happened between the couple, and she could make an educated guess as to what.

"At my expense..." Zavvi grumbled, pouting. Corso chuckled good-naturedly, a hand gently resting on her waist.  
"Aw Captain, I didn't mean no offence..." He murmured to her, his nose brushing her lekku, Xuleena's presence briefly forgotten. The Jedi watched this scene unfold in concealed awe, her sister shivering with pleasure at his touch.  
"Corso..." She tried to sound annoyed, but it was difficult, what with the feeling of his skin and warm breath against her sensitive skin as well as his reassuringly close presence and hand against her side. He smiled at her, and the consular shifted uncomfortably at the emotions she sensed from the couple, whilst Qyzen snorted softly in disapproval.  
"Yes?" He asked, lips hovering temptingly close to her ear.  
"Xu's still here." She pointed out, which made Corso turn bright red and quickly move away from her, looking very sheepish. The smuggler was also looking a bit bashful, in the knowledge that her sister had likely sensed the depth of feeling the two shared and also the fact she still wasn't totally used to Corso being so forward. However, she planned to pick up where he left off later, if they weren't too frozen by the end of the day.

"Alright folks, the shuttle's ready!" The pilot called out. "Don't all rush on at once."  
"Time to go." Xuleena spoke, shifting her robes around herself in preparation. "May I request my little sister not attempt to backseat fly?" Zavvi huffed, folding her arms.  
"Not my fault if they don't know how to fly properly." She replied, keeping her voice down so the pilot couldn't hear her. "If I had my way, I'd fly the _Skylark_ down there."  
"Aw no." Corso groaned. "Master Jedi, why'd you have to get her started about this again? I had an earful of this earlier." He said, grinning at the captain.  
"You keep talking and I'll replace you with Bowdaar and leave you with the other two!" She warned, the mercenary wincing.  
"Point taken, Captain."

As they filed onto the ship (Corso waiting for the ladies to pass him, of course), the young man heard the Trandoshan hiss, making him glance to the large reptile. Though he knew that Qyzen was with the Jedi, he couldn't help the slight wiggle of unease he felt in his spine. The hunter sensed the Mantellian's gaze on him and eyed him.  
"_The hunt begins, small one. May you earn many points._" He spoke, Corso trying not to stare at the hunter's mangled eye, though he noticed Qyzen eyeing the scars on his neck briefly.

"Uh, Thanks. You too." He replied, nodding, sitting beside his captain, who smiled at him.  
"You ready for this, Cor?" She asked, her light green eyes dancing in a way that made his heart miss a beat.  
"So long as I'm with you? I'm ready for anything." _How bad could it be?_


End file.
